


The Arsonist

by bluebellsandcocklesshells



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Law Enforcement, Arson, M/M, slightly dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 04:56:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6738976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebellsandcocklesshells/pseuds/bluebellsandcocklesshells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you're curious, Sam is the arsonist.</p></blockquote>





	The Arsonist

Castiel pinched the bridge of his nose and sat back in his chair in frustration.  The serial arsonist stalking Montgomery County and the surrounding area was making the MCPD look like puppies chasing their tails.  The hit on Monday was the eighth in as many months.

He had an odd MO: he only burned houses that had nurseries, starting the fires in those rooms, but he never killed or injured anybody.  It appeared that he stalked the homes and only made his move on nights when he knew the house would be empty for a long period of time.  One time, the family had come home to find their house smoldering on the ground—and their cat in a carrier by the mailbox.  This guy had no problem burning down someone’s house, but he took the time to find the family pet first and take it to safety.  What kind of person did that?

The arsonist also only tended to hit houses that were insured for fire.  They’d tried to follow that lead, to see if the guy worked for an insurance company, but that hadn’t panned out yet.

So, was the guy really that bad?  He’d never hurt anyone and the victims all had insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding.  But it still left the victims homeless for a while, it left them feeling unsafe in their own home, and it destroyed things that were inimitable: photographs, handmade quilts from grandma, items with sentimental value.  In a way, it was one of the worst crimes one could commit against a person—taking away something personal and intimate and irreplaceable.  Yeah, the guy was a monster.

For a while Castiel had followed his own theory that this was a copycat arsonist.  Twenty years prior the area had been plagued by a serial arsonist who had also targeted homes with nurseries.  But that guy had been a murderer.  A parent, usually the mother, was found tied down in the nursery.  The autopsies showed that they had all burned alive.  A couple of times children had died in the fires as well.  Two people independently setting fire to nurseries was really too much to be a coincidence, but the styles were so different it had to be different people.  Different people with completely different motives.  His chief hadn’t liked the theory though and told him to abandon it.  They were just going to have to find some other way to catch this guy.

_Click, flick, snap._

Castiel looked up, familiar with the noise, but surprised to hear it.  His boyfriend was sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk, feet propped up on some ignored paperwork.

“Jesus, Dean, you startled me.  I didn’t even see you come in.”

Dean smiled.   _Click_ , he opened the lid of his ever present lighter; _flick_ , he ignited the flame; _snap_ , he closed the lid.

“Sorry.  You looked really deep in thought and I didn’t want to bother you.  Are we still on for dinner tonight?”

Castiel sighed.  He wasn’t getting anywhere tonight.  He should go have dinner with his boyfriend.  He smiled a little at the thought.  He’d only known Dean for about six months, they'd been dating for three, and the word boyfriend had only come into play a couple of weeks ago.  But he liked it.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.  I need a distraction.”

“I’m good at distractions.”   _Click, flick, snap_.  He gave Cas a mild leer.

Cas pursed his lips together to keep his smile in check; he didn’t think he succeeded.  Dean already thought too much of his seduction skills, so he really shouldn’t encourage him.  Cas threw on his coat, checked that his gun and badge were secure, and then rounded the desk to Dean as he stood up.

As they walked out of the precinct, Dean rubbed a comforting hand at the back of his neck.

“Rough day, babe?”

“Yeah.  It’s that arsonist.  We’re still having trouble finding the guy.”

Dean’s hand trailed possessively down his spine to the small of his back.

“Who knows, Cas?  Maybe you’re closer to him than you know.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're curious, Sam is the arsonist.


End file.
